Made In Chelsea star Tabitha Willett, who is pregnant with her second child, has called out commuters for not offering up their seat to her on a London train. The mother-of-one shared her frustration in a post on Instagram, triggering a heated debate.
Tabitha, 34, shared a clip of a train carriage showing all the seats taken, and wrote: "Don't want to be a moan but…On the way back from the school run and a carriage full of men on their phones and no one stood up for a pregnant woman with a badge or elderly couple next to me."
The star, who announced her pregnancy in December and revealed her visible bump in another Instagram post taken in Paris last week, explained that she was clearly wearing a 'baby on board' badge while being forced to stand for the journey. She added: "Do better London."
However, it appears that not everyone agreed with Tabitha's view that as a pregnant women she should have been offered a seat. She shared in a video that a "female" follower had told her "being pregnant isn't a disability".
Tabitha, who told her 96k fans that she went for a baby scan this week, countered: "To be honest if I was really struggling being pregnant and standing I would have gone over and asked an able body, 'I'm so sorry I'm pregnant do you mind if I could sit down till the next stop or something?' but luckily I'm perfectly capable."
She continued: "With Ottilie [her first child], however, I was pretty much on bed rest and couldn't physically stand up or take steps on my own, I was given crutches towards the end. Things like that though is why I think, yes pregnancy isn't a disability but you just don't know and I don't think it hurts to ask. That's my stand point."
Women who are pregnant can request a 'baby on board' badge from Transport For London, which may be used on all forms of public transport like trains, buses and the tube. While it is meant to encourage members of the public to give up their seat to those who are expecting, there is no law requiring them to do so.
Tabitha is expecting her second child with fiancé Harry Hoare, six years after she welcomed her daughter Ottilie with former partner Fraser Carruthers. The expectant mum announced in November that she was engaged, after just ten months of dating, and the couple are due to have a small wedding in January.
The star first appeared on Made In Chelsea in 2018 for season 15, and then returned to the reality show for its 18th, 23rd and 29th series. Her recent engagement was a surprise to viewers who had watched her romance with co-star Arman Pouladian-Kari play out on screen not too long ago.